[Patrick Hodgdon]

I caddied for a guy today who was once the superintendent at this very private old club in Rhode Island and was curious if anyone had any pictures and/or thoughts on the course.

[K. Krahenbuhl]

I caddied for a guy today who was once the superintendent at this very private old club in Rhode Island and was curious if anyone had any pictures and/or thoughts on the course.

I drove by while playing a couple of area courses this spring and it looked like a beautiful place. 

[Mike Sweeney]

If you do a search, it gets referred to a bunch here. That said, it sits right below the radar in a bunch of ways:

Best Ross course in Rhode Island - nope Wanamoisett
Best seaside course in Rhode Island - nope, Newport
Best course on Fishers Island Sound - nope Fishers Island

You get the idea. For me a Doak 7. Basically a very good Ross course and family club in a great location. Membership is very friendly. It is just that nobody ever leaves because of the special nature of the place. Had a friend who married into the membership and I need to hit him up again!

Oh yea, they have reciprocal relationships with Newport and Fishers. GCA nirvana out there in Westerly, RI.

[TEPaul]

I love the place. Whatta want to know about it?

Today at my club in Philly (GMGC) we have the lawn from the clubhouse melding right into the 18th green due to the influence of Misquamicut.

[Tom_Doak]

It's a great place, although not a 7 on the Doak scale.  There are a handful of really cool, wild greens, and the front nine has some great undulation, although most of the back nine is very flat.  A beautiful summer club.

[Morgan Clawson]

Patrick or TEPaul,

Do you have any photos of the 18th/Clubhouse lawn melding as you described?

Sounds really cool.

[TEPaul]

"Do you have any photos of the 18th/Clubhouse lawn melding as you described?"

Morgan:


Actually I do but it is on my wall and I don't know how to put photos (or anything else) on here. Sorry. It's a very cool aerial that is quite low and at a sort of oblique angle whereby I believe you can even see Fishers Island in the distance. The lawn (sort of the same thing as a massive area of chipping grass) merges from the clubhouse and all around the substantial practice putting green and right into the left side of the 18th green which is a great pretty long uphill par 3.

The architectural evolution of that course (or some of its holes) is very interesting, I think, even though I've never been that certain of the accuracy of it. The course is basically a Ross design but it appears Ross redid an earlier course that was not eighteen holes that seemed like a series of par 3 holes (maybe up to twelve of them) of all kinds of lengths. There is an unsigned stick routing of that earlier course and the club thinks it might be Willie Park Jr.

There is quite a bit of very cool quirk on some of the holes of that course, including a few of the fairways. One hole that doesn't seem to get that much mention----the 6th---in my opinion, is one of the best par 3 green designs for a hole of that length I have ever seen in my life. It doesn't exactly jump out at you visually but I think its shape and shot values are some of the best I've ever seen.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

[Steve_ Shaffer]

[Pete Stankevich]

One of my favorites, although I've only had the opportunity to play it once.

A little bit of trivia about the place-
In the movie "Mystic Pizza" with Julia Roberts, the scene where she and her friends are dancing outside the country
club, she sees her boyfriend with some other woman, then dumps a barrel of fish in his
Porsche-that was filmed at Misquamicut Club.  Too bad you can't see much of the place since
it was at night.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

If you google Misquamicut Club images you'll come up with a lot of course pictures on picasa web  albums by a DWBrockway.

[Bill Brightly]

About 20 years ago, well before i knew much about golf course architecture, my college buddies and I were planning our 8th anuual poker weekend. It was the reunion of our poker game, but I was pushing the group to play more golf and less poker...and I always set up the golf tee times.

Our destination was the Connecticut coast, taking over one of the guy's parents' beach house. I booked two tee times at TPC River Highlands for day one but did not know the area, so I figured we find a local public course to play the last two days. One of the other guys who rarely played golf said his parents have a house membership at a nearby course "that wasn't very good." I said we'd try it. First day we played TPC and it was what you see on TV. Then we drove up the coast to some course called Misquamicut and we were BLOWN AWAY! It was so beautiful and so much fun to play. The complete opposite of a letdown! We cancelled the next day's tee times and made our buddy get us back on the next day!

[Mike Sweeney]

It's a great place, although not a 7 on the Doak scale. 

Doakey has gone all Big Time on his New England roots!! If you are not willing to drive a 100 miles to play golf and have lunch at their beach club, resign your GCA login!

[Cliff Hamm]

That's the problem with the Doak rating scale.  It may work well for those who have access and have played the world's finest, for the rest of us mere mortals not so much.  I drive 100 miles to play quality public courses without hesitation.  Would certainly drive much farther to play a course like Misquamicut if I had access and I only live 30 miles or so away!!

[Willie_Dow]

TP - When Mel Lucas redid the bunkers at Misquamicut he uncovered a slew of gutties, so you know the layout had been there for quite some years.

[TEPaul]

Willie:

Really? How cool is that? That just reinforces my belief that Mel Lucas really is the ultimate "architectural archaeologist." I just wish he had found Willie Park Jr's wallet down under there somewhere. 

By the way, where have you gotten yourself to? Are you in Florida yet? Did you drive down in the 1935 Stutz Bearcat that has no floorboards?

[Tom_Doak]

Cliff / Mike S:

I very rarely think about my ratings for courses in terms of that "100 mile" test I suggested for a course which was rated 7.  I just think in terms of other courses I've rated.  Looking back into The Confidential Guide, I rated Wannamoisett a 7, and Metacomet and Newport a 6.  I couldn't see Misquamicut as higher than the latter two, even though I am obviously not a huge fan of Newport, either.

One of the reasons I don't really use the 100-mile test is because 100 miles is relative to where you are.  If you're in Montana, damn right you'd drive 100 miles each way to play Misquamicut, but of course you can't.  I actually grew up almost exactly 100 miles from Misquamicut in Stamford, and on reflection, it WOULD be worth driving 100 miles each way from there to play it ... but to do so would have to choose it over every course on Long Island, and drive past Yale and Fishers Island en route.  Maybe I would feel differently if anyone had actually invited me to have lunch at their beach club! 

I'm surprised there are not many good photos of the course, considering Larry Lambrecht is a member at Misquamicut.

[TEPaul]

"I actually grew up almost exactly 100 miles from Misquamicut in Stamford, and on reflection, it WOULD be worth driving 100 miles each way from there to play it ... but to do so would have to choose it over every course on Long Island, and drive past Yale and Fishers Island en route.  Maybe I would feel differently if anyone had actually invited me to have lunch at their beach club!"


TomD:

I'll tell you what----I would rather drive 1000 miles out west than 10 miles on that damn Conn. turnpike. That thing is a virtual deathtrap. The closest I ever came to getting killed in a car was on that danged road! 

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Larry Lambrecht's pictures:

https://www.golfstock.net/page.asp?id=5&catid=19

[George_Bahto]

Here’s a neat story about Misquamicut


A year or so ago, friend, Tony Pioppi while researching the course came up with the following story:

The club hired Seth Raynor to redo 5 holes on the course in 1913 and continuing into 1914.

The project went on hold for some reason or another and when the club went to re-contact “William” Raynor - “Bill” and “William” were Seth’s nickname, they were obviously unsuccessful.

Unable to contact him they hired Ross in 1822


here is the info I have:

orig Tom Bendelow rudimentary design 
then Willie Anderson 1895
Seth Raynor redo of 5 holes 1912-1913
then Donald Ross redo in 1922 with additional land purchased

[hick]

go to golf architecture photos.com and the misquamicut club is under rhode island. played it about ten years ago and would love to play again.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom P:

You are right about the Conn. Turnpike.  A couple of years ago when I was heading up that way, a truck in front of me bouncing along the uneven pavement managed to bounce a railroad tie out of the back of the truck into the center lane about 50 yards in front of me!  Luckily there was no car to my left so I could get around it.

George B:

It wasn't clear from your post whether Raynor DID the five holes and then no more, or whether he never did the five holes.  I would guess it's the latter ... some of those greens around the clubhouse could easily be Raynor greens.

[George_Bahto]

Tom, from what Tony dug up it was definite that Raynor did the 5 holes - I think Tony got the info from some of their own historical papers

your thought that some of the greens (around the c/h look like something Raynor would build): could you place them or position them on some map? perhaps Google Earth?   interesting

A Princeton alumnae paper told of the "Bill" nickname and there are other references as well

funny story

Larry L has this labeled "18a" on his website

[TEPaul]

TomD and GeorgeB:

Did either of you happen to see that early rudimentary stick routing on a small piece of paper of some original holes on what is now the front nine that was hanging in an old frame near the door to the locker-room and sort of falling out of the frame? A few of those old holes on that stick routing are still part of the course. I can't remember them all now but I know the 1st certainly is one. The 3rd and 4th might have been as well even though I don't believe they were the 3rd and 4th on that old stick routing of less than eighteen holes. As I recall the golf pro was pretty informed on the architectural history of the course. I don't remember him mentioning Raynor or Benedelow. I think he said he thought the original holes may've been Park but perhaps he said Anderson.

[Niall C]

I have a Scottish newspaper report from I think 1895 (talking off the top of my head, don't have notes in front of me) that refers to Park superintending the laying out of the course or words to that effect. I'm pretty sure it was 1895, I'll need to check.

Niall

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